Connecting entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed was the core principle behind One Spark when it debuted in 2013.
A lot has changed since then, but that principle will remain — and on a more accessible scale — when the inaugural One Spark Innovation Day conference opens at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
“It’s for people who have an idea and for people who want to have an idea,” said Kate Stewart, president of Jacksonville Community of Entrepreneurs Inc., which is presenting the conference.
The day will begin with opening remarks by Mayor Lenny Curry, followed by panel discussions and breakout sessions covering topics such as starting, funding, running and protecting a business.
A trade show for companies and organizations that provide resources and services for entrepreneurs and those who aspire to start a small business will be set up on the second floor of the hotel.
Stewart said more than 400 people were registered for the conference as of Tuesday morning.
Tickets for $40 per person will be available at the door.
The steps that led to Stewart’s involvement began at One Spark 2015 when she exhibited her idea for a way to help students make education choices based on what they really want to do in life.
She spent four days last April in the Jacksonville Bank Building with a table and a video monitor, showing “Reach For My Star” to everyone within earshot.
After the crowdfunds were divvied up, she got a check for $26.33, along with something much more valuable. The experience connected Stewart with new, like-minded friends who wanted to maintain the energy they felt during the festival.
“After One Spark, it all disappeared, but about 10 of us started meeting once a month to share ideas. Pretty soon, more people wanted to join the group,” she said.
Within six weeks, Stewart and her new contacts formed the nonprofit Jacksonville Community of Entrepreneurs.
The group then partnered with the Jacksonville Public Library to provide “PowerUp,” a time and space for creative, business-minded people to gather twice a month to share ideas and help each other move forward.
It was the first step in adapting what cities such as Austin, Texas, have done to create what Stewart calls a “start-up ecosystem.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing where this goes from here,” she said the day PowerUp began at the Main Library Downtown.
The entrepreneurial environment model that works in other places was “adapted for Jacksonville’s unique culture,” she said, and it’s what led to her organization’s involvement in One Spark Innovation Day.
It was announced in February that One Spark was being scaled back from five days and 600 exhibits to a one-day festival with 66 exhibits, to be followed by the one-day conference.
Stewart outlined the format for Thursday’s conference.
She said the event will establish its own identity, while building on the brand identity and movement created after three years of the former crowdfunding festival.
“It is true to our mission to build Jacksonville’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are creating an event where everything the ecosystem needs will be in one place at one time,” said Stewart. “A place where Jacksonville’s entrepreneurial community can begin to find its structure.”
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